A little background on James before we get started. First, the most probably author for this letter is "James the Just" who is identified in early church history as the first Bishop of Jerusalem and the probable half-brother of Jesus. Other possible authors that have been put forward are James the Great who is the brother of John, the son of Zebedee, one of the Twelve or James the Less, the son of Alphaeus and another of the Twelve. From the introduction of the letter, it is clear that the target audience of this letter are the Jewish believer spread out over the Roman empire. While it is uncertain exactly when this letter was published, it's believed to be mid to late 1st century AD.
The first chapter of James jumps right into it with a discussion on the source of wisdom. In my mind, wisdom stems from knowing the right course of action when presented with a situation. To truly be wise then, one must be aligned with the ultimate course of right action which is the will of God. Thus, true wisdom stems from knowing God, which is exactly what James points out. I think the imagine of God standing ready to provide us with wisdom speaks to the desire of God to have a relationship with us.
This is a powerful message on a rainy Monday that makes it hard to get into the Word. Reading the Bible without intent, without a desire to grow closer to God, is no different that reading a magazine or any other book. As James points out at the end of this first chapter, you should be transformed by reading the Gospel. Unlike the Early Church or the current day church in China, we have the ability and the blessing to pick up the Bible or worship twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week with little fear of repercussions. There are a plethora of material by Francis Chan, John Piper, or other Christian juggernauts at our fingertips. It's hard to deny that we have not seen or heard the Gospel. Thus there is little reason why we should not be transformed by the Gospel and outwardly manifest actions as a sign of our inward transformation.
There needs to be a reason you pick up this book and that reason is to become wise through growing closer to God so that you are capable of reaching out to Him and his capacity for infinite love during times of tribulation. This brings us to the second main theme we see in the James 1.
We will be tested. There is a certainty in that. One hundred out of one hundred Christians will be tested over the course of their life, though the source of that test is not always the same.
The question remains though of who we rely on during our tests. If I am being truly honest with myself, I don't always turn to God when times are rough. I try and sort them out myself before thinking to ask Him for some help. I was reminded this weekend at a wedding that the time I spend on our knees is infinitely more important than time fixing a problem by myself (check out Ephesians 3:14-19) and ultimately more productive than my endeavors. I pray that I remember this and can put this into practice in my life.
'Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves' I feel like this describes a decent bit of my study of the bible, i take it almost academically, and i do listen to the things the bible teaches, but this listening is not the same as doing. I love how James instructs us to ask God for wisdom when we do not have it. Unbelievable to think that i can ask for these things.
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"Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires." This is something that I learned the hard way my freshman year of college. Feeling a friend had betrayed me, I lashed out in anger at them, in the process destroying two of the closest friendships I had formed during high school. Even last year, as I was getting over the fallout of my relationship with Leah, I had a tendency to be bitter, which in turn gave me a rather short temper. Thankfully the Lord has worked in my heart to change that.
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